Meet Jake Ohlemiller

Hometown: Suburbs of St. Louis, Missouri

Home Church: First United Methodist Church, West Lafayette Indiana

Degree Program: Master of divinity, first year

Other Degrees: B.S., agricultural engineering

Formative Experiences: I grew up in the St. Louis suburbs, but my spiritual home is First United Methodist Church of West Lafayette, Indiana, which I attended while studying at Purdue University. Shortly before I earned my degree, I felt God calling me to a vocation in pastoral ministry.

Experiences at Garrett-Evangelical: I'm deeply grateful for the vibrant student/faculty community I've found at Garrett-Evangelical, and I have grown closer to God through the many friendships that have sustained me here. Studying theology has given an authentic and deep-rooted voice to my sense of vocation, and I have enjoyed gaining powerful new ways to articulate my faith to a hurting world.

Calling: My call to ministry is deeply connected to a sense of place. After seeing the decayed state of many rural communities in Indiana, I hope that God will use my life to nurture life-giving relationships between people, their neighbors, and the soil.

My favorite class this year: Of particular transformational value was my "Introduction to the Old Testament" course, taught by Cheryl Anderson. As we took a critical approach to the Hebrew Scriptures, I found that my faith in the biblical witness did not suffer, but actually matured!